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The LaGrange Academy tennis teams are chasing greatness. The boys’ and girls’ teams have already claimed region titles and are now on the hunt for a bigger title.

Even with a first-year head coach and a team full of youngsters, the Warriors are building something special on the tennis courts.

“I mean, honestly, like as a coach, it’s one of those things where I kind of have the Greg Popovich mentality about it, the Bill Belichick mentality about it. Right now, we’re like, yeah, cool, we won the region. We beat the people we were supposed to beat,” first-year head coach Kaleb Sosobee said. “We have only really been challenged a couple of times this season; most of the time, we have been dominating teams.”

Both the girls’ and boys’ teams are full of tennis players, not multi-sport athletes with tennis as a backup, but fully dedicated tennis players.

“I know a lot of these kids because I have coached them in the past at my academy,” Sosobee said. “It’s pretty rare to have a small school like this with so many dedicated tennis players.”

Winning a region title is the standard at LaGrange Academy and with that in tow, the Warriors are eyeing a state championship run later this month. 

 

BOYS:

The boys’ quest for a state championship took a hit early in the season when no. 2 player Alex Jaevholm broke his arm.

“Well, to be honest, the season started with a ton of adversity right off the bat, when our number two player, his name was Alex, actually fell and broke his arm playing basketball the second day of the season. So, we originally had hopes of possibly winning a state championship, and while it didn’t necessarily dash those, it definitely put a big dent in them.”

The Warriors have had to do some reshuffling, but now have found their groove. 

“Once we figured out our lineup, it has been pretty smooth sailing,” Sosobee said. 

With Jarvholm, a junior, out of the lineup, the team was somewhat short on experience. However, the Warriors returned their no. 1 singles player, Prem Kamat, who missed all of his junior season with an injury.

“Having him back with the team has been huge; he’s been really solid for us,” Sosobee said. 

In his last season on the court with the Warriors, Kamat finished top-4 in the state. The senior will be looking to end his tennis career with a bang at LaGrange Academy after having to sit out last season with an injury. 

The versatility of the lineup has also helped the Warriors this season. Zach Tures has been plugged in at just about every position in the lineup and has helped LaGrange Academy at every twist and turn.

“He’s our real go-with-the-flow guy,” Sosobee said. “We kind of plug him in wherever he’s needed. He happily played no. 1 singles when we played Oak Mountain and he won at the number one single line, and he happily played number two doubles, and that’s what he’ll be playing in the state tournament,” Sosobee said. “And I gotta say,  he’s been a very good asset because he always brings a good attitude and he’s very coachable.”

Tures is currently paired with Anderson Moore.

The Warriors’ no. 1 doubles pairing of Micheal Zera and Martin Zachary has proved to be one of the best partnerships in the state this season.

“We call them MZ squared and they are a lock at our no. 1 doubles spot,” Sosobee said. “They have only lost one match all season and it was to a really good opponent. They are so good together that I didn’t want to break them up early in the season when we’re figuring out our lineup.

Instead of breaking up the partnership, Sosobee recruited Colson Allen out to play, who has slotted into the lineup as the no. 3 singles player, pushing Raayan Ahmed to the no. 2 spot.

“For the lack of a better term, I essentially begged him to come out and play and he has been undefeated since joining the team,” Sosobee said. 

Even without Jarvholm, what sets the Warriors apart is their depth. Andrew Knight and Will Stewart can fill in just about any spot in the lineup.

 

GIRLS:

 

While the boy’s team is chock-full of depth, the girl’s team does not have that same luxury. The team’s top 3 singles players — Molly and Ava Edelson and Payton Wynne — are all eighth graders. The trio of super talented youngsters are regularly going up against girls 3-4 years their senior and the trio never backs down.

“These girls are lights out and I really couldn’t ask for anything more from them,” Sosobee said. “We have had quite a few coaches comment that ‘your team looks extremely young.’”

‘Our girls are really tough players and aren’t worried about going up against these 17-18 year olds,” he added. 

Molly is already one of the top tennis players to come through LaGrange Academy in quite some time. 

“Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Molly Edelson, our number one girl, could win the individual state title this year; she’s that good,” Sosobee added. 

The Warriors have seen a massive overhaul to the lineup from last year. Sowon Kim was the team’s no. 1 singles player a season ago and is now slotted in as part of the team’s no. 1 doubles team with Izzie Frazier. 

“She played no. 1 singles for us last year and now she is the second best player on our no. 1 doubles team, which shows you just how much more beefed up our lineup is this year,” Sosobee said. 

The duo of Emma Wynne and Amatulah Fidahussein rounds out the squad as the no. 2 doubles team. 

“The big problem we have with the girl’s team is that there are only seven of them,” Sosobee said. “That means if anybody is sick or has ballet or whatever, we have to forfeit a line.”

While depth is an issue, lack of experience hasn’t been, despite the team’s youth. The team has just one upperclassman — Fidahussein — with the rest being underclassmen and eighth graders. 

“A lot of them play me almost every single day, and not to toot my own horn, but I am significantly better than anybody on the team,” Sosobee said. “Payton plays Brayden Lamb, who is the no. 2 player at LaGrange High and a really tough opponent, almost everyday.

“These girls aren’t really concerned by age or stature or anything else. They can’t be intimidated because there is a lot more to tennis than that.” 

 

WHAT’S NEXT:

The Warriors will have just one more regular season match after coming back from spring break. LaGrange Academy will be back on the courts next Tuesday in an away match against Calvary Christian.

The individual state tournament will be held in Macon on April 21-22 ,while the team tournament is set for April 29-30.

“I feel bad saying this, but I would be a little disappointed if we didn’t win anything, whether it’s an individual state title or one as a team,” Sosobee said. “It’s not that we can’t be good in the future, but this season feels like we have all the pieces.”